CHICAGO — During the COVID-19 pandemic, as people spent more time at home, vintage shopping became all the rage. Across the country people tried to furnish their homes with hard-to-find items that couldn’t be purchased at big box stores.

Between West Lakeview and Roscoe Village, West Belmont Avenue in Chicago has become the city’s antique avenue. It’s a collection of vintage shops, where the displays dance and time stands still.

House 15, located at 1828 Belmont, is the smallest storefront on the stretch. It is named for the birth date shared by its owners, mother and daughter Laurie and Sloan Jones.

“We are House 15 because my mom and I were both born on June 15. We are Gemini twins as we say,” Sloan Jones said.

“We took this little building, and we literally turned it into a house,” Sloan Jones said.

It’s a women owned business in which mom Laurie is using her 15 years of experience as an interior designer taking her talent from an Etsy blog – to bricks and mortar.

“I personally don’t think I would have done this without my daughter pushing me to do it,” she said. “And the only regret I have is that I wish I would have done it sooner.”

Daughter Sloan runs the marketing, with social media posts designed to entice shoppers.

“I will post a video or a reel or whatever, and I’m not even kidding – within the hour – somebody will come in and be like, ‘Is that item still here?’” she said.

They’re organizing and presenting vintage items in a shop where everything is one of a kind.

“We are finding those treasures in the trash,” Sloan Jones said. “We are cleaning. We’re repairing. And we are literally showing you how to style it in your home.”

The items on display have been discovered at other antique shops around the country, rummage, re-sale events and after competing with crowds at local estate sales. 

It’s a lot of time spent looking for something they can save.

“Everything we put in the store is something we would put in our homes ourselves,” Sloan Jones said.

A home at House 15, where they’re hoping to have a big business in a little shop.